Leveraging Technology to
Improve Nuclear Power Plant
Outage Management
www.inl.gov
Shawn St. Germain
Principal Investigator
Idaho National Laboratory
HPRCT 2015
06/17/15
Project Overview
• Research funded through the DOE Light Water Reactor
Sustainability (LWRS) program
• Purpose – To improve management of NPP outages
through development of an Advanced OCC that is
specifically designed to maximize the usefulness of
communication and collaboration technologies for outage
coordination and problem resolution activities.
• Utility Partners –
– Arizona Public Service (Palo
Verde), Southern Company
(Plant Farley), TVA (Sequoyah),
Xcel Energy (Prairie Island),
Soon Duke Energy
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Current Outage Control Centers
• The outage control center (OCC) is the central information gathering
and decision making hub during a refueling outage
• Current OCCs due not typically take advantage of modern
communication technology
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A Statistic Worth Noting
• According to NEI, 38% of the nuclear industry work force
will be eligible for retirement by 2018
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Current OCC Communication Methods
• Face to Face
– Advantages – Accurate, Use of non-verbal cues
– Disadvantages – Requires travel to the OCC, Adds to
OCC distractions
• Status Boards
– Advantages – Visual display of outage priorities
– Disadvantages – Requires physical presence to update
or view, Not easily archived for knowledge
management
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Current OCC Communication Methods
• Radios
– Advantages – Real time interaction, can be used in
most locations
– Disadvantages – Must listen to non-relevant traffic,
Causes distractions for those in the immediate area,
limited number of channels
• E-mail
– Advantages – Allows for rich data, little distraction
– Disadvantages – Limited distribution, not great for
archiving
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Current OCC Communication Methods
• Schedule Printouts
– Advantages – Visual display of outage status
– Disadvantages – Requires physical presence to update
or view, Delay from time work is complete until reported
to OCC
• Telephones
– Advantages – Real time interaction
– Disadvantages – Causes distraction, information not
archived or available to others
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AOCC Implementation Strategy
No
Yes
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Communication Map
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AOCC Concepts
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Real-Time Collaboration for Emergent Issues.
Improved Communication of Outage Status, Out of the OCC.
Improved Communication of Discovered Conditions, Into the OCC.
Real-Time Work Status.
Automatic Pending Support Notifications.
Micro-Scheduling
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Available Technologies
• Large-format multi-touch monitors utilizing collaboration software to
assist with organizing, collaborating and communicating the status of
the outage and emergent issues.
• Mobile (worker) technologies capable of establishing instant video
communication from the field to the OCC.
• Use of WiFi enabled remotely controlled cameras for monitoring job
site work performance (i.e. Emergent Issue real-time monitoring).
• Use of collaboration software to disseminate information to staff
using desktop computers and tablet computers in any location, onsite
or off.
• Integration of Computer-Based Procedures(CBPs) and Automated
Work Packages (AWPs) into real-time schedule monitoring.
• Use of flags in CBPs and AWPs to notify support staff of pending
requirements via mobile technologies.
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Computer-Supported Cooperative Work
•
A concept that involves how to use technology to
support people in their work
• The term was first coined at a conference in 1984
• It is not just the application of software, but
requires an understanding of how work is
accomplished in groups
• Software designed for CSCW sometimes called
Groupware or Collaboration software
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CSCW Matrix
Johansen, 1988
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CSCW Matrix Applied to OCC Activities
• Same time/same place - This quadrant represents face to
face interactions
– Describe most of the activity in the OCC. The OCC
uses co-located staff supported by various wall displays
to support decision making.
• Same time/different place - This quadrant represents
remote interactions.
– Corporate oversight, vendor support
– Information provided by staff on site but remote from
the OCC
– Currently, remote interactions are supported by email,
telephone, or possibly video conferencing in limited
situations.
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CSCW Matrix Applied to OCC Activities
• Different time/same place - This quadrant represents
continuous tasks.
– Information that needs to be maintained to support
several shifts of staff working on issues
– The OCC and all the wall displays and turnover logs
support the time distribution of the staff.
• Different time/different place - This quadrant represents
communication with coordination.
– NPP outage activities in this group include use of
operating experience
– Earlier outages or from another utility.
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Collaboration Software Applied to NPP
Outages (Goals)
• Make information available and updatable from any
location (on site and off)
• Support the use of rich data (Photos, Videos, Drawings,
etc.)
• Incorporate Knowledge Management into the process
(Remember the 38%)
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Application of Technology to the IRT process
• Team observed Palo Verdes spring 2013 outage and made
process improvement recommendations.
• A Standard Issues Package was created using
collaboration software (Microsoft OneNote) for use by the
IRT.
• Deployed technologies were embedded into the IRT
process.
Before
After
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APS Fall 2013 Outage Standard Issues Package
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Collaboration Software Applied to the
OCC (Applications)
• Status Displays/Action Item Lists – Use of Collaboration
software to support status displays and action item lists
allows information to be viewed and updated from any
location
• Information Inflow –
– Changes the way staff communicate with the OCC
– It is not necessary to call or visit the OCC as frequently
– The reduced number of phone calls and traffic in the
OCC will allow decision makers more time to evaluate
information and coordinate activities with fewer
distractions
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Palo Verde Spring 2014 Outage
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Video Wall consists of 11 monitors run by 11 computers
One large format touch monitor
Any content can be selected to any monitor
Each department maintains a status page through OneNote
Video feeds are from turbine building, containment and refueling
Status boards are updatable and viewable from anywhere
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Palo Verde Spring 2014 Outage – Change
Management
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Sequoyah Spring 2015 Outage
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Sequoyah Spring 2015 Outage
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Palo Verde Spring 2015 Outage – Electronic
Work Package Demo
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Palo Verde Spring 2015 Outage – Electronic
Work Package Demo
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Palo Verde Spring 2015 Outage – Electronic
Work Package Demo
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Improved Graphical Displays
• Working with
Curtis-Wright to develop
displays that will assist
managers with schedule
tracking and resource
management.
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Idealized AOCC Physical Layout
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Prairie Island OCC Design Concept
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Summary
• Current outage control centers in general do not take
advantage of technology tools.
• Outage management may benefit from increased use of
technology to enhance communication, collaboration and
issues resolution.
• Collaboration software can improve access to information,
improve the quality of information and improve knowledge
management (Remember the 38%)
• INL is working with utilities to develop improved processes
and share technology lessons learned.
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